It's Christmas
by spindleofaspinningwheel
Summary: Another Christmas Shandy tumblr prompt that I extended into a longer one-shot. It is set this Christmas and is just family fluff.


_A/N: I have a few more tumblr prompts over there. Many of them will stay little drabbles and snippets, but I extended this prompt a little more. The first half of this was posted, but then I made it into a more complete holiday evening. It is another one of the Shandy holiday prompt responses, this time for - "It's the baby's first Christmas, we have to!" Set this year. I hope you enjoy this one. I kind of went a little crazy with it. As always the characters are not mine... I struggle getting into the Christmas spirit, but these were a fun distraction a couple weeks ago. I truly hope each of you have an amazing week/holiday/Christmas. Thank you for being kind and supportive, it is nice to still feel connected in this minor way._

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It's Christmas

The phone buzzing on the nightstand shook him awake. He grumbled slightly and curled further away from the sound not quite awake enough to register what was happening. After another second he moaned into the pillow, "But we're not on call."

Pressing herself into the blankets Sharon reached up lazily and patted his chest. She held her eyes closed tightly and sighed groggily, "Tell them to let us sleep. It's Christmas."

Andy reached out with his right hand and clumsily rubbed her arm. He exhaled, "I will babe," before rolling over to the nightstand. "Flynn," he huffed into the phone without bothering to check the screen. At the sound of the voice on the other line he sat up quickly, dislodging Sharon from her spot against his chest. The swift movement had her squinting one eye in his direction. She watched as his face turned from concerned to excited and back to concerned. "Really?" he exclaimed, throwing off the covers and standing. "Which hospital?" he probed, directing his eyes to his wife. At the word hospital she propped herself up to try to hear more clearly. He pulled his mouth into an excited grin. He bent his left arm in front of him into a "U" shape and rocked it back and forth. "Okay got it," he confirmed after hearing the answer. Sharon, now more awake, smiled at his game of charades. He rolled his arm over to hold his clenched fist in the air as if he was hold a steering wheel and rotated his hand back and forth before pointing to the door. Sharon nodded confidently at his message. Still on the phone Andy took a step away from the bed. "Okay we will be right there," he beamed before taking the phone away from his ear and pressing end.

Sitting up completely Sharon bent her knees in front of her and rested her hands on top of them. She grinned, "So?"

"So?" Andy repeated still standing beside the bed. He furrowed his eyebrows at her and tilted his head, "Did you not understand what I just told you?"

Sharon pressed her lips together to suppress a laugh and cocked her head to the side feigning confusion, "Something about a swing and a wheel?" At his exasperated harrumph she laughed, "Oh, were you saying the baby was on her way? And we need to get in the car?"

Andy rolled his eyes mockingly, "How did you guess?" He took a step backward and lifted his arms in the air to gesture for her to get up and get moving, "Come on, Sharon. This is not a drill." He turned and opened the bedroom door, "The train is leaving with or without you Grandma."

"All right, let's get moving then," she dropped her knees and pulled off her covers, still chuckling at his behavior. Although, before Sharon moved to completely rise she pointed to his legs, "Andy, dear, it may be a good idea to put some pants on before you go. I mean those Santa boxers are festive, but hospitals typically frown upon showing up in your underwear."

Andy dropped his head to look down at his bare legs and sighed, "Oh," before hurried into the closet. As he pulled open the drawers to gather his clothes he called out to her, "I wasn't kidding though, Shar we have to get moving."

Sharon smiled and rolled out of bed, "I think we have a little bit of time. There will be very little traffic. After all, it is 3 in the morning and the hospital is not that far away."

"But we have to be there now," Andy insisted, stepping out of the closet as he attempted to put one leg into his pants. "This is a big day." He fumbled slightly as he lost his balance and fell over onto the chair by the door.

Sharon eyed him cautiously, "Yes it is a big day, but if you are not careful you will wind up in the hospital yourself." She walked over to him and helped push him back onto his feet. "We had a deal about no more falls, remember?"

Andy nodded and pulled his pants on fully. "Yes, and it is a great deal, marvelous deal," he rambled, "but we do not have time to go over the details. The baby is coming." He turned to her and directed her gently into the closet so she could get dressed as well. Andy glanced down at his watch and back to her as if he had just registered the date. "And it's Christmas Eve. A Christmas baby, a new little angel to spoil!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Inside the closet Sharon's face broke into an even wider smile at his realization, "Yes, little one did not want to wait until January. She wanted to be a part of the holiday." Sharon chose a sweater from the drawer and a pulled it over her head. "I mean it is the best one, or at least in my opinion."

With all of his excited energy, Andy stepped forward and hugged her tightly. "Yes," he whispered into her hair, "definitely the best." He pulled back and kissed her quickly before turning back around and heading into the bathroom to brush his teeth and run some water over his face. Sharon continued to smile at his chaotic energy. She was excited as well, but nothing could compare to him in this moment.

After finishing pulling on her clothes she walked back around to her side of the bed and unhooked her phone from the charger. She tossed it onto the bed next to his to make sure they did not leave them both in their rush to get out of the door, and turned to the bathroom. When she joined him at the sink he grinned at her in the mirror. He pulled the toothbrush out of his mouth and exhaled happily, "You know, Sharon we are going to need to get a Santa down to the hospital. Maybe Provenza could put on his old suit. I know he still has it." He shrugged at the idea, "He probably does not even need to add the extra padding this year." Andy placed the toothbrush back into his mouth, but before Sharon could do the same he gestured to her again. "You know," he gargled removing the toothbrush from his mouth again and spitting into the sink, "We also need to make sure we all go out and see the Christmas lights tonight." Sharon nodded skeptically at him as he continued, "Then of course we can't forget to bake cookies, and to pick out a Baby's First Christmas orna-." He stopped mid thought and turned to her, "Wait, we didn't get the baby any gifts. She's early."

Sharon reached out and rubbed his arm, working hard to hold back a laugh over his genuine concern. She gave his arm a gentle squeeze to comfort him, "Andy, it is literally Christmas Eve. They will not allow Nicole or the baby out for any of those things. We have plenty of time."

"But Sharon," Andy stepped away slightly dazed at her reasoning, "It's the baby's first Christmas, we have to."

No longer able to hide her amusement at his distorted logic Sharon let out a snort, "Yes, it is. Andy, think about it. Do you think you would want to take a brand new baby out into the world the very first day?" She met his eyes, "Even if that day is Christmas?" Andy pressed his lips together in consideration. Sharon stepped closer and wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned into his side. She smiled broadly back at him in the mirror and laid her head against his shoulder, his face still processing the events of the last few minutes.

Andy tilted his head, "But what about the Santa idea? Still a good one?"

Sharon rotated her head so that her chin was resting on her shoulder. She smiled up at him, "Yes, I think that is a wonderful idea."

Andy dropped his toothbrush into the cup by the sink and squeezed her into another tight hug before rushing back into the bedroom. Sharon went to quickly brush her teeth, but as she glanced back into the bedroom she noticed her husband swiping through his phone. She removed her toothbrush and sighed, "Andy, what are you doing?"

"Calling Provenza," he answered matter-of-factly. "How else are we going to get the pictures?"

Sharon rolled her eyes lightheartedly, "Andy, you can't call him. It is 3 in the morning. We have all day today and tomorrow for him to meet us down there." When he looked back at her she reminded him, "Plus, the baby is not exactly here yet."

Andy nodded, "Right." He put his phone in his pocket and turned back to the door with renewed purpose, "Right, Sharon we have to go. We are going to miss everything."

Sharon shook her head playfully and hummed, "in a minute," before returning to the bathroom to finish brushing her teeth. She ran some water over her face and grabbed her make-up bag. When she returned to their bedroom Andy had already hurried down the hall. She heard the front door open and picked up her pace. She retrieved her phone from the bed and flipped off the bedroom light. As she rushed to the door she rolled her eyes again, trying not to get annoyed with his pure joy at the event. When she reached the door she noted both sets of car keys still hanging on the hooks. She shook her head again and smiled as she grabbed her keys and left their house.

Outside in the driveway Andy stood next to his car frantically patting down his pockets. Sharon smirked and jingled her keys in the air as she bypassed his car and unlocked her own. As she reached her side she called to him, "You forgot these, Flynn." Andy looked up and lifted his hands into the air signaling for her to toss them his way. She shook her head and reached for the driver side door of her car instead, "Nope, I'm driving. I want to get there in one piece."

Andy pressed his lips together to hold back his irritation at the change to his plan. Sharon tucked herself into the seat of her car, buckled her seat belt, and pushed in the button to start the ignition. At the sound of the engine turning over Andy quickly ran around to the passenger side and hopped into her car. "Okay," he reasoned, "You can drive. Let's get going though. No time to lose."

Sharon smiled as she put the car into reverse, "I knew you would see it my way." Once the car was backed out of the driveway Sharon reached around to the back seat and grabbed a small gift bag that had been sitting in the floorboard. Turning forward she placed the bag in his lap.

"What's this?" Andy wondered as he removed the paper. Sharon put the car into drive, but did not immediately reply. After all of the paper was removed he pulled a small box out of the bag. He turned his head toward her, but she was still facing forward fully focused on the road. Andy returned his attention to the box. He opened the lid and smiled merrily at the contents. "Sharon," he exhaled as he lifted a small trinket into the air by the attached ribbon. "When did you find this?"

Sharon briefly glanced over to him, her eyes sparkling, "Just something I picked up in case Nicole and her baby had a proper sense of occasion."

Andy set the small silver ornament in the palm of his left hand and read the inscription aloud, "Baby's First Christmas, 2018." He ran his finger over the etching, and then around the outline of the Christmas angel. He sighed thoughtfully and gazed lovingly back over to his wife, "This is perfect, Sharon."

About a mile away from the hospital Sharon stopped the car at a traffic light. The intersection was deserted, but the light remained red. Andy, who had been calmly, but still excitedly, riding along let out an exasperated sigh at the delay. He turned to Sharon and reasoned plainly, "I think you better run it."

"Run it?" She echoed coolly, barely hiding the amusement in her tone. "Andy, we cant run it. It will turn in time." With her hands on the steering wheel she returned her attention to the light to wait.

Still facing her Andy groaned, "But Sharon," the unexpected whine to his tone causing her to chuckle softly as he continued, "no one is even here. The lights are wrong. What if they never change? We can't sit here forever." He gestured toward the intersection to further emphasize his point. "Besides, I know a guy in traffic. It will be fine"

"Oh really now," Sharon mused rolling her head in his direction. "You think that that is the appropriate thing to do? Break the law and then have it taken care of by a guy in traffic?"

He shrugged, "Some people do it."

Sharon eyed him skeptically, "Some people may, but we will be there in less than five minutes. There is no need to do anything rash."

"Fine," he exhaled turning and pressing back into his seat, "but if it doesn't..." his voice trailed as the light flipped to green. He sat forward and yelled, "It's green!"

She turned back to face the road and released the brake. Shaking her head again at his mood she grinned softly and accelerated, "This is worse than driving with the kids. They used to yell the colors at me too. Funnily enough I do have eyes and can register what the signals mean all without anyone else's help." She chuckled slightly as she stole a glance at the passenger seat. Andy was still sitting forward in his chair, his earlier excitement fully returned. Without saying anything else she dutifully drove them the remaining blocks and pulled the car into the garage.

After she parked Andy quickly hopped out of the car. "Do you know where they are?" He asked over as he closed his door. Inside the car Sharon took off her seat belt and grabbed the gift he had left in the floorboard. Before she could reach for own her door he was there opening it wide, "Did they say the room number?"

Sharon smirked as she stood. "Well," she reasoned. "I actually do not have any kind of special telepathic powers when it comes to knowing someone's location in a hospital, especially since I wasn't the one to speak to them." She reached out and took his hand, "but I am sure we can head toward Labor and Delivery and be close."

He nodded and pulled out his phone, "Right. I'll give Dean a call real quick. Just to double check."

Sharon smiled and directed them toward the elevator and the appropriate floor. Andy followed along hastily with his phone against his ear. "They're not answering," he mumbled to Sharon as they stood side by side in the elevator. "Why isn't he answering?" He took his phone away from his ear and looked at the screen. "Oh," he exhaled in frustration. He flipped the phone over so she could see, "No service. Damn phones."

Sharon rolled her eyes and laughed softly, "Yes, it's the phones fault. Not the elevator or the building or anything else. Don't worry Andy, we will find them. Remember how it used to work in the old days? You walk down the hall and ask the nice people at the desk which room your family was in. It will be fine."

"You're right," Andy nodded as the elevator doors slid open. He stepped out quickly gently tugging her along with him. He glanced down at his phone again, "Still no service."

Sharon pointed to a sign on the wall, "Well that's probably a good thing. It says no cell phones beyond this point anyway."

Andy pursed his lips in frustration and tucked his phone into his pocket. "All of these ridiculous rules..." he exhaled turning the corner.

"Yes, horrible nasty things," Sharon chuckled. "They're obviously out to ruin us. Traffic laws, hospital regulations, what is the world coming to?"

Still walking Andy turned his head and shot her an unimpressed look, "Laugh it up, Sharon. I am just trying to get us there in time."

Sharon smiled and squeezed his hand reassuringly, "I know."

He returned his attention to the hall and stopped at the information desk, "Hello, my name is Andy Flynn and I am looking for my -"

"Andy, Sharon," interrupted a voice a few doors down. The pair looked up to see Dean waving to them. Together they turned from the desk. "We are in here," Dean beamed. He opened the door to show them in. "You're just in time."

Sharon and Andy entered the room and were greeted by an exhausted, but glowing Nicole holding a teeny bundle. Her smile widened at the sight of her father, "Hey Dad."

Andy released Sharon's hand and slowly walked over to the side of his daughter's bed. "Hey, kiddo," he whispered returning her smile.

Nicole lifted her arms slightly, "I have someone here who I would love for you to meet." Andy leaned forward to get a better look as Nicole reached out and tucked the receiving blanket away from the baby's face. "Little Evelyn could not wait another second."

His eyes glistening Andy gently leaned over and kissed his daughter's forehead, "She's beautiful, Nic."

Nicole leaned toward him briefly resting her head against his, "Thanks Dad."

At the foot of the bed Sharon watched the introduction, her own tears forming at the sight. Andy turned to her and reached out, silently asking for her to join him. She stepped around the bed and entwined her fingers with his as he pulled her closer. "Look, Shar," he beamed.

Sharon sighed contentedly down at the baby, completely overwhelmed with happiness. "I see," she smiled and leaned in to give Nicole a kiss on her cheek, "She's perfect, Nicole."

Nicole returned her eyes to her daughter, "I agree. Absolutely perfect."

After a moment Andy lightly bumped shoulders with Sharon and nodded down to the gift. He turned to his daughter, "We have a little gift for our girl."

Sharon lifted the present to the bed and began to remove the tissue paper. "It's not a lot," she grinned, "but we wanted to make sure our little angel had something." She pulled out the box and opened it to show Nicole the ornament. Sharon held it by the ribbon and it rotated slowly in the air catching the light off of the shining silver.

Nicole smiled knowingly, "An angel." Sharon held it closer so Nicole could see, "Thank you both, we did not think she would be here so soon. Her first Christmas." Her eyes sparkled, "So magical."

Andy nodded and squeezed his wife's hand, "Leave it to Sharon to be prepared for anything." He gave Sharon a quick wink before turning to his daughter and dropping his voice to just above a whisper, "I think she's a keeper."

Nicole chuckled, "I think you're right Dad. Good thing you two finally realized that and made it official."

Andy laughed, "Best decision of my life. Well, aside from you and your brother. Nothing could replace you two." Nicole smiled up to him, but said nothing, her emotions caught in her throat. Seeing her happiness Andy took a small step back and reached into his pocket. He took out his phone and opened up the camera. "I think I need a picture of my girls," he smiled lifting the camera to focus on the bed. He snapped a picture and smiled at the image. Then he opened his messages to type out a text.

Sharon leaned over, "What are you doing?"

With care he typed on the screen, "I'm sending it to Provenza. He needs to get down here in that suit."

Sharon rolled her eyes and looked down to Nicole. "Your father is going to have Provenza over here as soon as humanly possible so the little one can have her first picture with Santa." Nicole let out a happy chuckle as she leaned tiredly back against the pillow. Sharon nudged her husband, her eyes still on her stepdaughter; "You should have heard him planning her first Christmas this morning. This guy has big plans."

Nicole grinned, her eyes drooping slightly, "I'm sure he does. The _Sharon Effect_ strikes again."

Sharon rolled her eyes indulgently not wanting to argue, "I guess you could call it that."

Andy hit send and released their hands to wrap his arm around Sharon's shoulders. His smile never faltering, "Oh, you two, where is your sense of occasion?"


End file.
